Abstract : Nanotechnology is often said to be the industry of the 21st century. In most cases, the designing of nanostructured materials implies utilizing engineered nanoparticles as basic building blocks. Such materials often have new functionalities and enhanced properties which make them of great interest for many industrial applications. The apparent limitless possibilities offered by nanotechnologies in terms of applications and economic gain are to lead to a dramatic increase of engineered nanoparticle production. The need for nanoparticle-based materials is therefore expected to grow along with that for nanometrology allowing characterization of nanoparticles in-situ and in real time if possible. Workplace surveillance and process control are among many others issues where such instrumental development is required.